ESV Study Bible

This post arose from a question from a friend, about the time difference observed between the synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John. Specifically, in the Gospel of John we are told that those who led Jesus to Pilate had not yet eaten the Passover Meal (John 18:28), while Jesus and his disciples had eaten it the night before. How, then, can this difference be interpreted?

I know of two possible interpretations which I quote immediately. Anyone who knows any other possible interpretation can contribute by posting a comment with it.

1) John in no way contradicted the other Gospels… He merely followed a different calendar than they. It is a known fact that the Sadducees, for example, maintained their own calendar, distinct from the calendar used by the Pharisees; and a notable part of the high priesthood came from the ranks of the Sadducees (Claude Tresmontant, The Hebrew Christ, p. 292).

There is some difficulty in reconciling his chronology of Passion Week with the Synoptic data, but this difficulty might disappear if we were better acquainted with the conditions under which the Passover was celebrated at that time. There is considerable ground for believing that certain religious groups (including our Lord and His disciples) followed a different calendar from that by which the chief priests regulated the temple services. While the chief priests and those who followed their reckoning ate the Passover on Friday evening, when Jesus was already dead (Jn. xviii. 28, xix. 14), He and His disciples appear to have eaten it earlier in the week [F. F. Bruce, The New Testament documents. Are they Reliable?, p. 57 (Greek edition)].

2) The reference to Passover may be to the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasted seven days (cf. Luke 22:1: “the Feast of Unleavened Bread… called the Passover”), and so “eat the Passover” probably means “continue to celebrate the ongoing feast” (cf. 2 Chron. 30:21). The other Gospels state that Jesus had already eaten the Passover Feast with his disciples, but the current verse seems to refer to the Jewish leaders’ desire to continue in the ongoing celebrations (ESV Study Bible, p. 2063).